Xander has two bad knees, and no surgery on the horizon for him. He gets to play still, and occasionally has to be crate rested if he ends up limping. But with a really bad heart murmur, we can't afford his surgery (he has to go to a specialist, be hooked up to a heart monitor, etc). He's also almost 10 years old...so we just let him live the best life he can. He was crate rested/leash walked for 8 weeks after the first knee, and the same after the second knee. Most days you can't tell that anything is wrong.

Do I like it? No. Is it the best thing for him, absolutely not. But is he happy and cheerful...yes. Does he still get to do some things that he loves? Yes. He won third place in both beginners and intermediate of the DSO, and acted like an idiot, jumping all over me afterwards. I don't think anyone was even suspicious that there was anything wrong with his legs! He doesn't play flyball or frisbee anymore...but honestly, with his heart murmur, he probably would have had to retired because of that anyway. He's always been a high-drive dog, so it's definitely hard to watch him on some days...and I feel guilty some days.

He's in good shape, other than losing muscle in the back end still...despite playing and exercises. He gets supplements for both his legs and his heart, and we have rimadyl for his bad days.

"I don't have any idea if my dogs respect me or not, but they're greedy and I have their stuff." -- Patty Ruzzo

"Dogs don't want to control people. They want to control their own lives." --John Bradshaw

Went to the vet today, there is basically nothing left in his knee. Our vet does the "standard" reconstruction surgery. They also have a vet that comes in that will do the TPLO or Tight Rope surgery. If we want TTA we have to have a referral to go elsewhere.

They recommend that the surgery be done sooner than later, and also recommend post surgery physical therapy, but said that that is not mandatory, as they have had dogs do just as well without it if all of the directions for rehab are followed. We'll probably do a mix of the two, the therapy costs as much as the surgery does....

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

My understanding is that the longer the wait the more arthritis can develop.

Knee surgery and dogs sucks

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day, tomorrow doesn't look good either.
_______________________________________
"You didn't know of the magical powers of the break stick? It's up there with genies and Harry Potter as far as magic levels go." SisMorphine 01/07/07

There are a couple of places in Rochester that offer rehab with hydrotherapy. When we took Earl I believe it was $30 per hour session. We took him twice a week and it definitely helped speed up his recovery process quite a bit.

The only thing we did outside of at home rehab was a few weeks of the underwater treadmill at the Animal Rehabilitation Center of Rochester (located in Greece across from the Distillery). http://rehabpets.com/services_treatment.php We had Earl's surgery done at the Monroe Veterinary Specialists across from MCC and this was the place they referred us to for rehab.

Each session was about 30-60 minutes depending on the amount of time on the treadmill (they started slow and worked his time up on the treadmill each session). Earl had a lot of atrophy in his leg and the treadmill definitely helped to build up some muscle. After a few weeks of that they gave me the go ahead to start running him short distances again on leash with me. Honestly once he got back to jogging his recovery went up 10 fold.

Mind you this was 6 or 7 years ago so prices may have changed a bit but I can't imagine the price has fluctuated that much

mnp13 wrote:$30 per hour session? We need to talk then, because that is not the prices that I have been getting. So far what I have looked into was running in the two grand range - nearly as much as the surgery.

Surgery is tentatively scheduled for mid-October, no exact date yet. They have to coordinate between the doctor coming in to do the surgery (he's not a member of the practice) and the doctors in the practice.

We're working on researching the post-op therapy now.

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

mnp13 wrote:Surgery is tentatively scheduled for mid-October, no exact date yet. They have to coordinate between the doctor coming in to do the surgery (he's not a member of the practice) and the doctors in the practice.

We're working on researching the post-op therapy now.

When Earl had his surgery they kept him for the night and the following day (I believe) so they could start therapy with him right away. When I went to pick him up he was putting weight on his leg and pulling pretty good. They will probably give you a little padded sling that goes under his belly with handles on top so you can help him support his weight. They kept a fentanyl patch on him for a few days and they really f'ed him up (loopy, whining, etc..)

I don't remember what the at home therapy was exactly, but most of it consisted of icing multiple times per day and range of motion exercises. I also ended up making a large ramp and attaching it to the front steps so I didn't have to worry about him possibly injuring himself while going down the steps. Other than that it was lots of crate time with stuffed kongs and bones of one sort of another. I also slept downstairs with him but that was the hippie in me

mnp13 wrote:$30 per hour session? We need to talk then, because that is not the prices that I have been getting. So far what I have looked into was running in the two grand range - nearly as much as the surgery.

We're leaning towards TPLO at this point, probably mid october.

We spoke to one place, $60 for a half hour, $85 for 45 minutes. They recommend going in three times a week for the first three weeks, then twice a week for the remainder, usually a total of eight to ten total weeks depending on the dog.

Still waiting on a call back from the place that you went to... I'm hoping your prices are still in effect!

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.

One thing you may want to consider is putting some sort of carpeting or runner where Connor has to walk. Until the bone has a chance to fuse back together, there is an increased chance of injury.

Yeah, I figure we'll put runners down from the door of his crate to the front door, put a ramp down the stairs and hopefully not have to deal with ice at any point.

Am I being too optimistic to hope that he'll get full use of his knee back? I expect eventual arthritis and possibly another surgery in case his other knee fails, but I hate the thought of him being less than 100%. I've found few people who have had this done who work their dogs as physically as we do, or have this kind of dog.

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

DemoDick wrote:Am I being too optimistic to hope that he'll get full use of his knee back? I expect eventual arthritis and possibly another surgery in case his other knee fails, but I hate the thought of him being less than 100%. I've found few people who have had this done who work their dogs as physically as we do, or have this kind of dog.

I don't know a lot of pit owners personally that have had the surgery but know quite a few people with other very active breeds (sport, hunting, etc..) whose dogs have gone back to 100%

Earl is a gangly Lab but is VERY active and puts a lot of stress on his leg through daily activities and definitely gives Kayden a run for his money when they are playing together. I've done flyball, agility, dock diving, frisbee, weight pull, etc... with him without any indication at all that his knee was repaired. They probably won't know until they open Connor up but Earl tore his meniscus as well when he injured his knee. From what I've read that can cause some added arthritis later down the line.

Earl initially recovered very quickly and then hit a plateau. He was still shifting the majority of his weight to his good knee after 3 months and the surgeon said, "Well that may just be as good as he gets"... What I found out after talking to a lot of people is like humans, some dogs take a little longer to get better and to not rush his recovery too much. I did a lot of jogging with him after those 3 months and that helped speed up his recovery a LOT. The first year after Connor rehabs you will have a lot of oh sh!t moments every time he goes balls to the wall, but that knee once healed really is strong as hell.

I would be VERY surprised if Connor slows down at all after he rehabs. He is a strong, determined monster of a dog. You guys keep your dogs active and lean (minus Mrs Ruby of course) so that dramatically reduces the chance of him screwing his other knee up.

Thanks Matt. His meniscus is fucked for sure. He sounds like a metronome when he walks.

Demo Dick

"My first priority will be to reinstate the assault weapons ban PERMANENTLY as soon as I take office...I intend to work with Congress on a national no carry law, 1 gun a month purchase limits, and bans on all semi-automatic guns."-Barack Obama"When in doubt, whip it out."-Nuge

maberi wrote:I would be VERY surprised if Connor slows down at all after he rehabs. He is a strong, determined monster of a dog. You guys keep your dogs active and lean (minus Mrs Ruby of course) so that dramatically reduces the chance of him screwing his other knee up.

HEY There will be NO picking on of Princess Ruby. She is VERY active. In fact right now, she is actively holding down the cushion on her chair, while simultaneously snoring and drooling.

You have quite a lot to say about my dog for someone who is going to be in a car with me for 12 hours very soon...

Michelle

Inside me is a thin woman trying to get out. I usually shut the bitch up with a martini.